ČSSD's internecine war over EU funds
The ink is hardly dry on the document PM Bohuslav Sobotka signed last week in Brussels for locking in EU funding through 2020, and people within his own party are already fighting like Ukrainian oligarchs over the manna from heaven. As MFD explains it today, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec wants to take the EU's broadband-internet money away from Industry Minister Jan Mládek and give a large chunk of it to Česká pošta. MFD doesn't mention plans by ČSSD to turn the new ICT unit at the post office into a fresh revenue stream for the party and its plugged-in individuals, thanks to new public-procurement rules, but this is no doubt at the forefront of Chovanec's mind. Mládek's plan instead calls for giving most of the money to PPF's Cetin unit. (Hence PPF's eagerness to be rid of minority shareholders.) War is in the air. If Brussels can send negotiators to Ukraine, perhaps it could do the same for its own member state.
Glossary of difficult words
internecine - of or relating to conflict within an organization;manna - an unexpected or gratuitous benefit;
chunk - an amount or part of something;
plugged-in - aware of what is going on or what is up to date;
forefront - the leading or most important position or place;
to be rid of - to be freed or relieved from.